GTX 670 or 7970 HD

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yoToco94

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Dec 22, 2012
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Im currently looking at this 2 cards for triple monitor setup. Which one do you recommend? Also the size of the monitors that go great on them. The card cant go over $600 and the monitors Im willing to go 400 top. Thanks! Im confused on the resolution that the cards can support. :S
 
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OwensJ480

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Dec 27, 2012
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RAM on a graphics card is just like the RAM in your computer. Information is sent and stored there that will need to be accessed much quicker than it can access on a hard drive. Theoretically the more RAM the better, but you need processing power to utilize that RAM. From my experience, to have 6GB of RAM on a GPU beneficial would be to liquid cool your graphics card and overclock it like no other. I have a GTX 680 stock running at 1084MHz and it doesn't even utilize all the 2GB of RAM. Now if I were to overclock it quite a bit, then my 2GB of RAM would start to bottleneck the processor speeds of my graphics card.

So the question becomes, do you plan to overclock the card? If you do, you better have a liquid cooling set up planned. Because there will be no way you'll get it cool enough to utilize that much RAM. If you don't plan to liquid cool, and just plan to keep the cards at stock speeds. The 3GB card is more than enough RAM.
 
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thently

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It is not needed just nice. If the card stays cooler the fans spin slower hence less noise. If it is a large price diffrence then don't worry about it. I would suggest you looking at cards with after market coolers though almost all of them are allot quieter than the original.

Thent
 
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OwensJ480

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Just as Thent said, it just helps keep the card more cool. But in most setups that "Vapor-X" thing is so large that you'd most likely loose the possibility to Crossfire in later years. And the price increase for an extra 3GB of RAM that you wont ever use is not worth it at all. Also, I've noticed alot of reviews for the Vapor-X card say the fans get really loud under full load. Idk about you, but I don't like my computer sounded like a jet engine. If I were to get a Radeon 7970, I'd just go with this,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150586

People also say that card is loud as well, but the issue doesn't seem to show up as much and it has the best rated reviews. Also double check that your computer case can fit the card. The reviews also complain about how long it is. Check the card dimensions and your case...
 
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OwensJ480

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Another side note, those cards come with a free Crysis 3 and Bioshock. That would technically bring your card down to $280 with the rebate. And if you enjoy and will actually play those games. That's a pretty damn good deal!

Lol my GTX 680 only has slightly better performance and specs, and it cost $470 and didn't come with a damn thing at the time.
 
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OwensJ480

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Well I'm a complete review whore! Lol so I wouldn't go with the MSI because it has worse reviews. And also, you are only getting the slightest! and I mean the slightest! performance increase and the card will be $30 more than the others.

Now the reviews aren't bad either. So do you like the asthetic appeal of the MSI? If it looks really cool to you, and you want to pay an exta $30 by all means go for it.
 
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OwensJ480

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lol okay.

Not yet. I've done alot of reasearch into it though. Multi monitor set up in 3D has been my goal since starting my recent computer build. Wont be able to handle games maxed out with what I can afford right now. But I should be able to do pretty well with what I'm going for. I'll have to wait until I get my degree to afford a $15,000 computer monster to get top performance lol.
 
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thently

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ya I would not reccomend 3d on 3 screens the bezzle really ruins it. to have fun with 3d get a 1080p 3d projector. I tried this on a non 3d projector with the red blue glasses and it was sick.. I got motion sick on a 10 foot screen sitting about 10 feet away. fun but I got a little motion sick after about an hour of hawx. looked great though lol.

Thent
 
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OwensJ480

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Lol ya I've never had that motion sickness problem or the headaches people get. But I absolutely hate projection monitors. Just personal preference. And I love the surround feeling of 3 monitors. The screens I have chosen don't have too large of bezzles, so it should work perfect for me.
 
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OwensJ480

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Haha sorry. As you can tell I get a little to technical and carried away sometimes.
 
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